The Jama’atul Ahlus Sunna Lid Da’awatis Jihad,JASLIDAT, otherwise known as Boko Haram has been quoted by an on-line report that the masterminds of the radical Islamic sect are some prominent Northerners, whose identities would be made public soon.

According to the report, by an adherent of the slain leader of the group, Muhammad Yusuf, who also serves as the spokesman, Mallam Ali Teshako, the sect emerged due to lack of good governance and injustice in the country.

He said the original brains behind the sect’s formation were Northern elite who, under the pretext of sponsoring youths to study in the Middle-East, offered them as mercenaries to countries interested in training terrorists.

The spokesperson of the sect, also known as Yusufiyya, named after its slain leader, said the original name of the group was Taliban. He said Boko Haram was not its name, but that it was given to it by people in the states where they have followers and have been clashing with security operatives.
According to him, those who formed JASLIDAT thought they could manipulate Yusuf into toeing their line, but he resisted.

“If he were alive, he would have spilled the beans on them. Nonetheless, we will reveal their identities at our convenience.”

He said the clashes between the group and security operatives was as a result of provocations by the police. He recalled that in 2009, the police, who had shot dead two of their members, traced them to a cemetery where they went to bury them and wounded 20 more people.

Teshako added: “Not satisfied, they trailed those wounded to a hospital in Maiduguri and prevented them from getting blood donations and treatments. In the wake of all these, we were hounded, chased from our homes, some of us were killed and many were arrested including myself.”

He indicated that many of the atrocities attributed to JASLIDAT were perpetrated by killer-squads funded by some serving and former governors in the North-East. He cited the attack on a police station that was carried out by ECOMOG militia allegedly sponsored by a former Borno State governor. He said, after the attack, his group was blamed.

Dismisses Akhwat Akwop threats

Meantime, Teshako has dismissed the Akhwat Akwop as another “group of vultures” that wants to feast on misfortunes of the apex government.

“This is another group of thieves who want to seek relevance from the government.”